Reinforcement fabric for concrete structures



E. c. HUNTER 3,010,258

REINFORCEMENT FABRIC FOR CONCRETE STRUCTURES Nov. 28, 1961 OriginalFiled March 15, 1952 f. 2. Y E

A w E X .W mHW Me a. 2 I W m m E a-q T7- United States Patent burghSteel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Originalapplication Mar. 15, 1952, Ser. No. 276,751.

Di i ed and this application May 3, 1954, Ser. No. 427,213

4 Claims. (Cl. 50-388) Mv invention is a division of my applicationSerial No. 276,751, filed March 15, 1952, now abandoned, and relates toreinforcement fabric, and more particularly to that type, whereinreinforcement mesh wires or the like have a backing sheet assembledtherewith in unitary relation. While the invention is hereinafterdescribed as employed more particularly in the laying of concretefloors, the fabric structure can advantageously be used also as aplaster base for walls and ceilings, or for exterior stucco.

Reinforcement fabric of the character referred to commonlv comprises areinforcement mesh of wires welded together in relatively crossedrelation, together with a backing sheet therefor held in place by lacingwires disposed rearwardly of the backing sheet and connected through thebacking sheet to the mesh by stitching elements in the form of bentwires or hooks. Usually, it is desirable that the fabric structure thusformed be shipped as rolls to the places of installation, where it willbe unrolled crosswise of floor joists or studding.

The presence of the lacing wires and the stitching element, particularlywhere the heavier gauges of welded mesh wires are employed, as in thecase of floor fabrics, presents difliculties in the way of rendering theassembled fabric elements more diflicult to coil in rolled form forshipment, and the stitching elements sometimes tear holes in the backingsheet when the fabric is coiled.

One object of mv invention is to provide a composite fabric structure ofthe character referred to. wherein the lacing wires are so formed andarranged that they will not ofier serious resistance to bending of thefabric when coiling it into rolled form.

' Another object of my invention is to provide a structure of thischaracter, wherein the stitching elements are of sufficient stiffness orstrength as not to become deformed or flattened during handling andcoiling of the fabric but are. nevertheless, so mounted and arrangedasvnot to interfere with the coiling'of the fabric nor will they punchholes through the backing sheet.

In attaining the first of the objects above named, I provideta) lacingwires that are made in sections which are connected in link-like form atvarious points throughout the length of the sheet, and as an alternative(1)) provide lacing wires which are bowed somewhat intermediate thepoints at which they have connection with the stitching elements, so asto provide the desired flexibility for bending them around a longerradius than the mesh wires,

when coiling the fabric.

As to the second object above named, this is attained by so mounting thestitching elements and the lacing wires that they can tilt somewhat fromtheir perpendicular positions relative to the fabric, when coiling thefabric, and as an alternative, the stitching elements have pivotalconnections with the lacing wires, each of which wires may be continuousthroughout the length of the fabric structure.

As shown in the accompanying drawing,

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of one form of fabric structure;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the lacing wire arrangement of FIGS. 1and 2;

FIG. 4 shows a modification of of the structure of 2, and

FIG. 5 shows still another modification thereof.

Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, the fabric structure comprises theusual reinforcement members consisting of longitudinally-extending wires8 and transversely-extend ing wires 9 welded together in crossedrelation, and a backing sheet 10 that serves as a support or form forthe concrete or plaster. V

The backing sheet 10 is held in place by lacing members in the form ofshort wires 11 that at one end are bent to form stitching elements 12that are of yoke-like shape and have hooked engagement with thetransverse wires 9. These stitching bends 12 hold the backing sheet inunitary relationwith the reinforcement mesh and permit the sheet to lieat such distance from the plane of the mesh as to effect imbedment ofthe mesh 89 at a desired depth. The backing sheet usually will be of aThe lacing members 11, at their other ends, are bent in planes parallelto the plane of the backing sheet to form eyes 13 with which adjacentstitching elements 12 have hooked engagement. The lacing members thusare arranged in a plurality of rows or interconnected series,longitudinally of the fabric structure and each series forms an almostcontinuous line of support for the backing sheet. Reinforcing cords 14are incorporated in the backing sheet 10 and extend crosswise of thelacing members 11 to assist in holding the paper against saggingexcessively while the concrete or plaster is being applied and to resisttearing .of the paper while the concrete is in a wet condition.

The structure just described facilitates the coiling of a long strip ofthe fabric so that it can convenientlyfbe shipped in rolled form andeasily handled and installed. In rolling a fabric structure of thischaracter, it is advantageous to have the lacing wires in jointedsections as shown in the drawing, to facilitate a wrapping of the fabricto coil form, since it will not need tobow or bend on so large a radiusas would a continuous wire. The back-turned ends of the stitchingelements 12 terminate at the outer face of the sheet and serve to. limitflexing or pivotal movement of the lacing members in .one direction.This reduces sagging at the joints, that would otherwise occur betweenjoists or sills, while permitting pivotal movement of the lacing membersin the other direction, when rolling the fabric for shipment.

Also, the joints at 13 permit the hooks or stitching elements 12 to tiltsidewise while coiiing, thereby reducing danger of these elementspunching through preceding turns of paper in the coil, which would bethe case if the hooks were rigidly held against tilting movementrelative to the backing sheet and the mesh 8-9. The eyes 13 aresufiicieut diameter to permit relative tilting of the lacing members 11about their longitudinal axes and thereby permitting the said tilting orpivotal movements of the stitching elements.

In installing the reinforcement fabric on floor joists 15 for example,the fabric will be unrolled crosswise of the joists, and after cuttingit to length, the mesh wires 8-9 will be held in spaced relation to thepaper and concrete 16 will be applied.

Referring now to FIG. 4, I show a structure wherein each line of lacingis in the form of a continuous wire 18 instead of being divided intojointed lengths 11. In this instance, stitching elements 19 have hookedengagement with the transverse wires 9, but instead of being formedintegrally with the lacing wires, have an end portion wrapped around thelacing wire 18 as shown at 20. This arrangement permits the pivotal ortilting movements of the stitching elements, as above referred to, whenwrapping the fabric-in coiled form, or even when stacking sheetsthereof, thereby avoiding puncturing or tearing of the backing paper bythe bends oft-he stitching elements.

In order to facilitate coiling of the fabric structure of stead oflongitudinally thereof, in which case the stitch wires would preferablybe looped over the mesh wires 8 instead of the mesh wires 9.

In FIG. 5, I show a modification of the structure of FIGS. 1 and 2,wherein provision is made for preventing dislodgement of stitch hooksadjacent to a line at which the fabric is cut, as for example when astrip is cut from a roll to fit a particular location. If ajcut is madealong the line a-a for example in FIG. 5, it is desirable that the hookor stitching wire be retained against accidental displacement, so thatit will continue to support the backing sheet and the reinforcement meshin assembled relation at that area. To this end, the lacing members 24that correspond to the lacing members 11 have an additional bend 25 atone end thereof, to partially embrace the loop 26 of an adjacent lacingwire. The loops 26 correspond 'to the loops or eyes 13 of FIGS. 2 and 3.It will be seen that when a cut is made as at a-a, the bend 25 willprevent dislodgement of the hook 23.

By having the bent-back free ends of the lacing hooks 12 and 19terminate at the outer face of the backing sheets instead of beingpunched through the sheets, the tilting of the lacing members whenrolling or stacking the fabric in the form of sheets will be facilitatedand there will be less rupturing of the backing sheets.

I claim as my invention:

1. Fabric structure that comprises reinforcement mesh, a'baeking sheettherefor, a plurality of parallel rows of lacing members disposed at therear side of the sheet, each row comprising a series of wires ingenerally longitudinal alinement, one end of each wire being bentto forman eye and the other end bent laterally and extending loosely throughthe eye of an adjacent lacing member, the secondnamed bend having anextension of yoke-like form, with one yoke leg extending from the lacingmember outwardly through the sheet and the mesh, and then bent 3. Fabricstructure comprising a mesh for the reinforcement of cementitiousmaterial, a flexible backing sheet therefor, lacing members disposedrearwardly of the backing sheet and, extending in generally longitudinalalignment, each lacing member being of short length relative to thelength of the fabric, and having a yoke-like bend formed thereon at oneend, with one leg of the yoke extending outwardly through the backingsheet and the curved portion of the yoke-like bend being inlooselyhooked engagement with the mesh and serving as a stitchingelement, the other leg of the bend being backwardly turned andterminating at the outer face of the backing sheet, the other end ofeach lacing member being loosely connected to the adjacent lacingmember, the lacing members having limited relative pivotal movements attheir points of connection, about axes parallel to their longitudinalaxes, and also having pivotal movements about axes transverse thereto,but limited in one direction by the said back turned legs.

4. Fabric structure comprising a mesh of longitudinally-extending andtransverse wires secured together in crossed relation, a flexiblebacking sheettherefor, lacing members disposed rearwardly of the backingsheet and extending'mainly parallel to the longitudinal wires, eachlacing member being of. short length relative to the length of thelongitudinal, wires, and having a yoke-like bend formed thereon at oneend, with one leg of the yoke extending outwardly through the backingsheet' and the curved portion of the yoke-likebend being inlooselyhooked engagement with one of the mesh wires and serving as astitching element, the other leg of the bend being backwardly turned andterminating at the outer face of the backing sheet, the other end ofeach lacing member having loosely looped connection with said one leg ofthe adjacent lacing member, and each longitudinal series of lacingmembers having limited relative pivotal movements at their points ofconnection, about axes parallel to the longitudinal wires, and alsohaving pivotal movements about axes transverse to said wires, butlimited in one direction by said back-turned ends of their said yokelikebends, 4 a

backwardly into loosely-hooked engagement with the mesh and terminatingadjacent to the outer face of the sheet, to thereby limit pivotalmovements of the lacing members in one direction.

2. A structure as recited in claim 1, wherein the second-named bendincludes an eye portion that is interlinked with the first-named eye ofan adjacent lacing member. p

, References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS883,434 Waite Mar. 31, 1908 1,694,542 Hedden Dec. 11, 1 928 1,730,935Hicks 0a. 8, 19-29 1,827,945 Land Oct. 20, 1 931 2,034,726 MenningerMar. 24, 1936 2,164,464 McNabb July 4, 1939 2,661,515 Nelsson Dec.8,1953

' FOREIGN PATENTS 229,504 Great Britain-n; Feb. 26, 1925

